Results 2007
Race report - Thanks everyone for showing despite challenging weather conditions. We think all agree that this was an epic year. Interestingly, this was a record completion year. All the volunteer groups from 2007 have agreed to help out in 2008 as well!
Comments:
My feeling for the event was that it was truly and amazing experience. I’ve raced over 55 races this year, including some big NRC stage races like Gila, Redlands and Tour of Toona. The Everest Challenge event was every bit as well organized and supported as any of those from the athletes perspective. Sure the fields were smaller and there was no MAVIC support car or rolling enclosure but the important things were there like: We started on time, results were posted quickly, I had more than enough water and food offered to me each day, we had a follow car for flats, the people involved were super supportive and despite some ominous weather on Saturday I never felt like our safety was less then the number one priority. In every way that mattered this was an outstanding race. The Ultra runners at the finishes put the event over the top for sure and likely saved all of our collective tails on both days given the conditions. The race is also extremely difficult and a personal test piece that requires some special preparation as it is unlike anything else on the calendar. One thing I can say is that the shorter more frequent climbs on day one made for real aggressive bike racing that day. Rather than go slow up the first long climb or completely blow up on it, the shorter climbs made for more fertile ground for hard attacking and tactics. It still came apart on the South lake/Sabrina climb but we were still fighting for it up to there. I think the Rock Creek climb should still go to the top next year but it was interesting how the weather influenced the early pace of the race and made for a hard second day. Overall a great event and I’ll try and come back if I can do the training required to survive it. - Jesse